Abstract
Specific mechanisms of adhesion found in nature are discussed in the previous chapter (Chap. 54, “Bioadhesives”). One of the most discussed biological systems in the last decade are the so-called fibrillar adhesives of insects, spiders, and geckos. These systems are adapted for dynamic adhesion of animals during locomotion and, therefore, have some extraordinary properties, such as (1) directionality, (2) preload by shear, (3) quick detachment by peeling, (4) low dependence on the substrate chemistry, (5) reduced ability to contamination and self-cleaning, and (6) the absence or strong reduction of self-adhesion. In the present chapter, we review functional principles of such biological systems in various animal groups with an emphasis on insects and discuss their biomimetic potential. The data on ultrastructure and mechanics of materials of adhesive pads, movements during contact formation and breakage, the role of the fluid in the contact between the pad and substrate are presented here. The main goal is to demonstrate how a comparative experimental approach in studies of biological systems aids in the development of novel adhesive materials and systems. The microstructured adhesive systems, inspired by studies of biological systems of insects, spiders, and geckos, are also shortly reviewed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alibardi L (1997) Ultrastructural and autoradiographic analysis of setae development in the embryonic pad lamellae of the lizard Anolis lineatopus. Ann Sci Nat Zool Biol Anim 18:51
Arzt E, Gorb SN, Spolenak R (2003) From micro to nano contacts in biological attachment devices. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:10603
Autumn K, Liang YA, Hsieh ST, Zesch W, Chan WP, Kenny TW, Fearing R (2000) Adhesion force measurements on single gecko setae. Nature 405:681
Autumn K, Sitti M, Liang YA, Peattie AM, Hansen M (2002) Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko setae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:12252
Autumn K, Dittmore A, Santos D, Spenko M, Cutkosky M (2006) Frictional adhesion: a new angle on gecko attachment. J Exp Biol 209:3569
Autumn K, Gravish N, Wilkinson M, Santos D, Spenko M, Cutkosky M (2007) Frictional adhesion of natural and synthetic gecko setal arrays. In: Proceedings of 30th annual meeting adhesion society, Inc, The Adhesion Society, Blacksburg, VA
Barnes WJP (2006) Whole animal measurements of shear and adhesive forces in adult tree frogs: insights into underlying mechanisms of adhesion obtained from studying the effects of size and scale. J Comp Physiol A 192:1179
Bauchhenss E (1979) Die Pulvillen von Calliphora erythrocephala (Diptera, Brachycera) als Adhäsionsorgane. Zoomorphologie 93:99
Betz O (2010) Adhesive exocrine glands in insects: morphology, ultrastructure, and adhesive secretion. In: Byern J, Grunwald I (eds) Biological adhesive systems. From nature to technical and medical application. Springer, Vienna, pp 111–152
Beutel RG, Gorb SN (2001) Ultrastructure of attachment specializations of hexapods (Arthropoda): evolutionary patterns inferred from a revised ordinal phylogeny. J Zool Syst Evol Res 39:177
Beutel RG, Gorb SN (2006) A revised interpretation of the evolution of attachment structures in Hexapoda with special emphasis on Mantophasmatodea. Arthrop Syst Phylogeny 64(1):3–25
Borodich FM, Gorb EV, Gorb SN (2010) Fracture behaviour of plant epicuticular wax crystals and its role in preventing insect attachment: a theoretical approach. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 100:63
Breckwoldt WA, Daltorio K, Heepe L, Horchler AD, Gorb SN, Quinn R (2015) Walking inverted on ceilings with wheel-legs and micro-structured adhesives. In: Intelligent robots and systems (IROS), IEEE/RSJ international conference on. IEEE, Hamburg, Germany, pp 3308–3313
Bullock JMR, Federle W (2011) The effect of surface roughness on claw and adhesive hair performance in the dock beetle Gastrophysa viridula. Insect Sci 18:298
del Campo A, Greiner C, Arzt E (2007) Contact shape controls adhesion of bioinspired fibrillar surfaces. Langmuir 23:10235
Chung JY, Chaudhury MK (2005) Roles of discontinuities in bio-inspired adhesive pads. J R Soc Interface 2:55
Creton C, Gorb SN (2007) Sticky feet: from animals to materials. MRS Bull 32:466
Daltorio KA, Gorb SN, Peressadko A, Horchler AD, Ritzmann RE, Quinn RD (2005) A robot that climbs walls using micro-structured polymer feet. In: Proceedings of international conference on climbing and walking robots CLAWAR, London, UK, pp 131–138
Davies J, Haq S, Hawke T, Sargent JP (2009) A practical approach to the development of a synthetic Gecko tape. Int J Adhes Adhes 29:380
Dening K, Heepe L, Afferrante L, Carbone G, Gorb SN (2014) Adhesion control by inflation: implications from biology to artificial attachment device. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 116:567
Edwards JS, Tarkanian M (1970) The adhesive pads of Heteroptera: a re-examination. Proc Roy Ent Soc Lond A 45:1
Eimüller T, Guttmann P, Gorb SN (2008) Terminal contact elements of insect attachment devices studied by transmission X-ray microscopy. J Exp Biol 211:1958
Eisner T, Aneshansley DJ (2000) Defense by foot adhesion in a beetle (Hemisphaerota cyanea). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97:6568
England MW, Sato T, Yagihashi M, Hozumi A, Gorb SN, Gorb EV (2016) Surface roughness rather than surface chemistry essentially affects insect adhesion. Beistein J Nanotechnol 7:1471
Federle W (2006) Why are so many adhesive pads hairy? J Exp Biol 209:2611
Federle W, Riehle M, Curtis ASG, Full RJ (2002) An integrative study of insect adhesion: Mechanics and wet adhesion of pretarsal pads in ants. Integr Comp Biol 42:1100
Filippov AE, Popov VL, Gorb SN (2011) Shear induced adhesion: Contact mechanics of biological spatula-like attachment devices. J Thero Biol 276:126
Gao H, Wang X, Yao H, Gorb SN, Arzt E (2005) Mechanics of hierarchical adhesion structures of geckos. Mech Mater 37:275
Gaume L, Perret P, Gorb E, Gorb S, Labat J-J, Rowe N (2004) How do plant waxes cause flies to slide? Experimental tests of wax-based trapping mechanisms in three pitfall carnivorous plants. Arth Struct Dev 33:103
Geim AK, Dubonos SV, Grigorieva IV, Novoselov KS, Zhukov AA (2003) Microfabricated adhesive mimicking gecko foot-hair. Nat Mater 2:461
Geiselhardt SF, Geiselhardt S, Peschke K (2009) Comparison of tarsal and cuticular chemistry in the leaf beetle Gastrophysa viridula (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and an evaluation of solid-phase microextraction and solvent extraction techniques. Chemoecology 19:185
Geiselhardt SF, Federle W, Prüm B, Geiselhardt S, Lamm S, Peschke K (2010) Impact of chemical manipulation of tarsal liquids on attachment in the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. J Insect Physiol 56:398
Gladun D, Gorb SN, Frantsevich LI (2009) Alternative tasks of the insect arolium with special reference to hymenoptera. In: Gorb SN (ed) Functional surfaces in biology – adhesion related phenomena, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht/Heidelberg/London/New York, pp 67–103
Gorb SN (1998) The design of the fly adhesive pad: distal tenent setae are adapted to the delivery of an adhesive secretion. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 265:747
Gorb SN (2000) Biological microtribology: anisotropy in frictional forces of orthopteran attachment pads reflects the ultrastructure of a highly deformable material. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 267:1239
Gorb SN (2001) Attachment devices of insect cuticle. Springer, New York
Gorb SN (2005) Uncovering insect stickiness: structure and properties of hairy attachment devices. Amer Ent 51:31
Gorb SN (2007) Smooth Attachment Devices in Insects: Functional Morphology and Biomechanics. Adv In Insect Phys 34:81
Gorb SN (2009) Adhesion in nature. In: Brockmann W, Geiß PL, Klingen J, Schröder B (eds) Adhesive bonding – materials, applications and technology. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, pp 346–356
Gorb SN (2010) Biological and biologically inspired attachment systems. In: Bhushan B (ed) Springer handbook of nanotechnology. Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp 1525–1551
Gorb SN (2011) Biological fibrillar adhesives: functional principles and biomimetic applications. In: da Silva LFM, Öchsner A, Adams RD (eds) Handbook of adhesion technology, pp 1409–1436. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01169-6_54
Gorb SN, Beutel RG (2001) Evolution of locomotory attachment pads of hexapods. Naturwissenschaften 88:530
Gorb EV, Gorb SN (2002) Attachment ability of the beetle Chrysolina fastuosa on various plant surfaces. Entomol Exp Appl 105:13
Gorb EV, Gorb SN (2006) Do plant waxes make insect attachment structures dirty? Experimental evidence for the contamination hypothesis. In: Herrel A, Speck T, Rowe N (eds) Ecology and biomechanics: a mechanical approach to the ecology of animals and plants. Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, pp 147–162
Gorb SN, Varenberg M (2007) Mushroom-shaped geometry of contact elements in biological adhesive systems. J Adhes Sci Technol 21:1175
Gorb SN, Varenberg M, Peressadko A, Tuma J (2007a) Biomimetic mushroom-shaped fibrillar adhesive microstructure. J R Soc Interface 4:271
Gorb SN, Sinha M, Peressadko A, Daltorio KA, Quinn RD (2007b) Insects did it first: a micropatterned adhesive tape for robotic applications. Bioinspir Biomim 2:S117
Gorb EV, Hosoda N, Miksch C, Gorb SN (2010) Slippery pores: anti-adhesive effect of nanoporous substrates on the beetle attachment system. J R Soc Interface 7:1571
Gottlieb Binder GmbH & Co KG (2017) http://www.binder.de/en/products/geckonanoplast/
Greiner C, Arzt E, del Campo A (2009) Hierarchical Gecko - Like Adhesives. Adv Mater 21:479
Heepe L, Gorb SN (2014) Biologically inspired mushroom-shaped adhesive microstructures. Annu Rev Mater Res 44:173
Heepe L, Varenberg M, Itovich Y, Gorb SN (2011) Suction component in adhesion of mushroom-shaped microstructure. J R Soc Interface 8:585
Heepe L, Kovalev AE, Varenberg M, Tuma J, Gorb SN (2012) First mushroom-shaped adhesive microstructure: A review. Thero Appl Mech Lett 2:014008
Heepe L, Kovalev AE, Filippov AE, Gorb SN (2013) Adhesion failure at 180 000 frames per second: direct observation of the detachment process of a mushroom-shaped adhesive. Phys Rev Lett 111:104301
Heepe L, Carbone G, Pierro E, Kovalev AE, Gorb SN (2014a) Adhesion tilt-tolerance in bio-inspired mushroom-shaped adhesive microstructure. Appl Phys Lett 104:011906
Heepe L, Kovalev AE, Gorb SN (2014b) Direct observation of microcavitation in underwater adhesion of mushroom-shaped adhesive microstructure. Beilstein J Nanotechnol 5:903
Heepe L, Wolff JO, Gorb SN (2016) Influence of ambient humidity on the attachment ability of ladybird beetles (Coccinella septempunctata). Beilstein J Nanotechnol 7:1332
Heepe L, Raguseo S, Gorb SN (2017a) An experimental study of double-peeling mechanism inspired by biological adhesive systems. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 123:124
Heepe L, Petersen DS, Tölle L, Wolff JO, Gorb SN (2017b) Sexual dimorphism in the attachment ability of the ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata on soft substrates. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 123:34
Hiller U (1968) Untersuchungen zum Feinbau und zur Funktion der Haftborsten von Reptilien. Z Morphol Tiere 62:307
Homann H (1957) Haften Spinnen an einer Wasserhaut? Naturwissenschaften 44:318
Huber G, Gorb SN, Spolenak R, Arzt E (2005a) Resolving the nanoscale adhesion of individual gecko spatulae by atomic force microscopy. Biol Lett 1:2
Huber G, Mantz H, Spolenak R, Mecke K, Jacobs K, Gorb SN, Arzt E (2005b) Evidence for capillarity contributions to gecko adhesion from single spatula nanomechanical measurements. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:16293
Hui CY, Glassmaker NJ, Tang T, Jagota A (2004) Design of biomimetic fibrillar interfaces: 2. Mechanics of enhanced adhesion. J R Soc Interface 1:35
Ishii S (1987) Adhesion of a Leaf Feeding Ladybird Epilachna vigintioctomaculta (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) on a Virtically Smooth Surface. Appl Entomol Zool 22:222
Israelachvili JN (1992) Intermolecular and surface forces: With Applications to Colloidal and Biological Systems, 2nd edn. Academic, London
Jagota A, Bennison SJ (2002) Mechanics of adhesion through a fibrillar microstructure. Integr Comp Biol 42:1140
Jagota A, Hui C-Y (2011) Adhesion, friction, and compliance of bio-mimetic and bio-inspired structured interfaces. Mater Sci Eng R Rep 72:253
Johnson KL, Kendall K, Roberts AD (1971) Surface energy and the contact of elastic solids. Proc R Soc Lond A 324:301
Kampermann M, Kroner E, del Campo A, McMeeking RM, Arzt E (2010) Functional Adhesive Surfaces with “Gecko” Effect: The Concept of Contact Splitting. Adv Eng Mater 12:335
Kasem H, Varenberg M (2013) Effect of counterface roughness on adhesion of mushroom-shaped microstructure. J R Soc Interface 10:20130620
Kendall K (1975) Thin-film peeling-the elastic term. J Phys D Appl Phys 8:1449
Kesel AB, Martin A, Seidl T (2003) Adhesion measurements on the attachment devices of the jumping spider Evarcha arcuata. J Exp Biol 206:2733
Kim TW, Bhushan B (2007) Adhesion analysis of multi-level hierarchical attachment system contacting with a rough surface. J Adhes Sci Technol 21:1
Kim S, Sitti M (2006) Biologically inspired polymer microfibers with spatulate tips as repeatable fibrillar adhesives. Appl Phys Lett 89:26911
Kizilkan E, Heepe L, Gorb SN (2013) Underwater adhesion of mushroom-shaped adhesive microstructure: an air-entrapment effect. In: Biological and Biomimetic Adhesives: Challenges and Opportunities. RCS, Cambridge, pp 65–71
Kizilkan E, Strueben J, Staubitz A, Gorb SN (2017) Bioinspired photocontrollable microstructured transport device. Sci Robotics 2:eaak9454
Kosaki A, Yamaoka R (1996) Chemical composition of footprints and cuticula lipids of three species of lady beetles. Jpn J Appl Entomol Zool 40:47
Kovalev AE, Varenberg M, Gorb SN (2012) Wet versus dry adhesion of biomimetic mushroom-shaped microstructures. Soft Matter 8:7560
Kwak MK, Pang C, Jeong HE, Kim HN, Yoon H, Jung HS, Suh KY (2011) Towards the next level of bioinspired dry adhesives: new designs and applications. Adv Funct Mater 21:3606
Langer MG, Ruppersberg JP, Gorb SN (2004) Adhesion forces measured at the level of a terminal plate of the fly’s seta. Proc R Soc Lond B 271:2209
Murphy MP, Aksak B, Sitti M (2007) Adhesion and anisotropic friction enhancements of angled heterogeneous micro-fiber arrays with spherical and spatula tips. J Adhes Sci Tech 21:1281
Niederegger S, Gorb SN (2003) Tarsal movements in flies during leg attachment and detachment on a smooth substrate. J Insect Physiol 49:611
Niederegger S, Gorb SN (2006) Friction and adhesion in the tarsal and metatarsal scopulae of spiders. J Comp Physiol A 192:1223
Niederegger S, Gorb SN, Vötsch W (2001) Fly walking: a compromise between attachment and motion? In: Wisser A, Nachtigall W (eds) Technische Biologie und Bionik. 5. Bionik – Kongress, Dessau 2000. Gustav Fisher Verlag, Stuttgart/Jena/Lübeck/Ulm, pp 327–330
Niewiarowski PH, Lopez S, Ge L, Hagan E, Dhinojwala A (2008) Sticky gecko feet: the role of temperature and humidity. PLoS One 3:e2192
Northen MT, Turner KL (2005) A batch fabricated biomimetic dry adhesive. Nanotechnology 16:1159
Peattie AM, Full RJ (2007) Phylogenetic analysis of the scaling of wet and dry biological fibrillar adhesives. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:18595
Peisker H, Gorb SN (2012) Evaporation dynamics of tarsal liquid footprints in flies (Calliphora vicina) and beetles (Coccinella septempunctata). J Exp Biol 215:1266
Peisker H, Michels J, Gorb SN (2013) Evidence for a material gradient in the adhesive tarsal setae of the ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata. Nat Commun 4:1661
Peisker H, Heepe L, Kovalev AE, Gorb SN (2014) Comparative study of the fluid viscosity in tarsal hairy attachment systems of flies and beetles. J R Soc Interface 11:20140752
Pelletier Y, Smilowitz Z (1987) Specialized tarsal hairs on adult male Colorado potato beetles, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), hamper its locomotion on smooth surfaces. Can Entomol 119:1139
Peressadko A, Gorb SN (2004a) When less is more: experimental evidence for tenacity enhancement by division of contact area. J Adhes 80:247
Peressadko A, Gorb SN (2004b) Surface profile and friction force generated by insects. In: Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Boblan I, Bannasch R (eds) Surface profile and friction force generated by insects, vol 249[15]. VDI Verlag, Düsseldorf, pp 257–263
Persson BNJ (2003) On the mechanism of adhesion in biological systems. J Chem Phys 118:7614
Persson BNJ (2014) On the fractal dimension of rough surfaces. Tribol Lett 54:99
Persson BNJ, Gorb SN (2003) The effect of surface roughness on the adhesion of elastic plates with application to biological systems. J Chem Phys 119:11437
Popov VL (2010) Contact mechanics and friction: physical principles and applications. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Prowse MS, Wilkinson M, Puthoff JB, Mayer G, Autumn K (2011) Effects of humidity on the mechanical properties of gecko setae. Acta Biomater 7:733
Pugno NM (2011) The theory of multiple peeling. Int J Fract 171:185
Pugno NM, Gorb SN (2009) Functional mechanism of biological adhesive systems described by multiple peeling approach. In: Proceedings of the 12th international conference on fracture, July 1217, Ottawa
Puthoff JB, Prowse MS, Wilkinson M, Autumn K (2010) Changes in materials properties explain the effects of humidity on gecko adhesion. J Exp Biol 213:3699
Richards AG, Richards PA (1979) The cuticular protuberances of insects. Int J Insect Morphol Embryol 8:143
Rizzo NW, Gardner KH, Walls D, Keiper-Hrynko JNM, Ganzke TS, Hallahan DL (2006) Characterization of the structure and composition of gecko adhesive setae. J R Soc Interface 3:441
Röll B (1995) Epidermal fine structure of the toe tips of Sphaerodactylus cinereus (Reptilia, Gekkonidae). J Zool 235:289
Ruibal R, Ernst V (1965) The structure of the digital setae of lizards. J Morphol 117:271
Russell AP (1975) A contribution to the functional analysis of the foot of the Tokay, Gekko gecko (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). J Zool (Lond) 176:437
Sameoto D, Menon C (2010) Recent advances in the fabrication and adhesion testing of biomimetic dry adhesives. Smart Mater Struct 19:103001
Schargott M (2009) A mechanical model of biomimetic adhesive pads with tilted and hierarchical structures. Bioinspir Biomim 4(026002):9
Scherge M, Gorb SN (2001) Biological micro- and nanotribology: nature’s solutions. Springer, Berlin
Schleich HH, Kastle W (1986) Ultrastrukturen an Gecko-Zehen (reptilia: sauria: gekkonidae). Amphibia-Reptilia 7:141
Sitti M, Fearing RS (2003) Synthetic gecko foot-hair micro/nano-structures as dry adhesives. J Adhes Sci Technol 17:1055
Smith JM, Barnes WJP, Downie JR, Ruxton GD (2006) Structural correlates of increased adhesive efficiency with adult size in the toe pads of hylid tree frogs. J Comp Physiol A 192:1193
Spolenak R, Gorb SN, Gao H, Arzt E (2005) Effects of contact shape on the scaling of biological attachments. Proc R Soc Lond A 461:305
Stork NE (1980a) Experimental analysis of adhesion of Chrysolina polita (Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera) on a variety of surfaces. J Exp Biol 88:91
Stork NE (1980b) A scanning electron microscope study of tarsal adhesive setae in the Coleoptera. Zool J Linnean Soc 68:173
Stork NE (1983) A comparison of the adhesive setae on the feet of lizards and arthropods. J Nat Hist 17:829
Tang T, Hui CY (2005) Can a fibrillar interface be stronger and tougher than a non-fibrillar one? J R Soc Interface 2:505
Varenberg M, Gorb SN (2008a) A beetle-inspired solution for underwater adhesion. J R Soc Interface 5:383
Varenberg M, Gorb SN (2008b) Close-up of mushroom-shaped fibrillar adhesive microstructure: contact element behaviour. J R Soc Interface 5:785
Varenberg M, Gorb SN (2008c) Shearing of fibrillar adhesive microstructure: friction and shear-related changes in pull-off force. J R Soc Interface 4:721
Varenberg M, Pugno NM, Gorb SN (2010) Spatulate structures in biological fibrillar adhesion. Soft Matter 6:3269
Varenberg M, Murarash B, Kligermann Y, Gorb SN (2011) Geometry-controlled adhesion: revisiting the contact splitting hypothesis. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 103:933
Voigt D, Schuppert JM, Dattinger S, Gorb SN (2008) Sexual dimorphism in the attachment ability of the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to rough substrates. J Insect Physiol 54:765
Vötsch W, Nicholson G, Müller R, Stierhof Y-D, Gorb SN, Schwarz U (2002) Chemical composition of the attachment pad secretion of the locust Locusta migratoria. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 32:1605
Walker G, Yulf AB, Ratcliffe J (1985) The adhesive organ of the blowfly, Calliphora vomitoria: a functional approach (Diptera: Calliphoridae). J Zool (Lond) 205:297
Wigglesworth VB (1987) How does a fly cling to the under surface of a glass sheet? J Exp Biol 129:373
Wolff JO, Gorb SN (2011) The influence of humidity on the attachment ability of the spider Philodromus dispar (Araneae, Philodromidae). Proc R Soc London, Ser B 279:139
Wolff JO, Gorb SN (2012) Surface roughness effects on attachment ability of the spider Philodromus dispar (Araneae, Philodromidae). J Exp Biol 215:179
Wolff JO, Gorb SN (2016) Attachment structures and adhesive secretions in arachnids. Springer, Berlin
Yurdumakan B, Raravikar NR, Ajayan PM, Dhinojwala A (2005) Synthetic gecko foot-hairs from multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Chem Commun 16041421:3799
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Gorb, S.N., Heepe, L. (2018). Biological Fibrillar Adhesives: Functional Principles and Biomimetic Applications. In: da Silva, L., Öchsner, A., Adams, R. (eds) Handbook of Adhesion Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55411-2_54
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55411-2_54
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55410-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55411-2
eBook Packages: EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering